German Patent Application DE 100 06 800.6 discloses an apparatus for selection and detection of at least one spectral region of a spectrally spread light beam (spectral photometer, hereinafter a SP module). Selection means that are embodied as sliders are provided in the spread-out beam of the light coming from the specimen to be examined, in order thereby to direct portions of the spread-out light beam to various detectors. The signals of the detectors are then used for image generation. DE 100 06 800.6 does not disclose actuation of the sliders so as to enable rapid and reliable detection of a specific spectrum.
German Patent Application DE 102 27 111.9 discloses a spectral microscope and a method for data acquisition using a spectral microscope. Methods and systems for sensing maximum information from a fluorescing microscopic specimen are encompassed. Error-tolerant and adapting data acquisition is not, however, possible with this method.
In the multicolor analysis described by Demandolx and Davoust, biological structures are localized by the introduction of individual dyes (see Demandolx, Davoust: Multicolor Analysis and Local Image Correlation in Confocal Microscopy, Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 185, Pt. 1, January 1997, pp. 21-36). If a structure reacts to one dye, this is referred to as “localization.” If a structure reacts simultaneously to more than one dye, this is referred to as “co-localization,” and the number of straight lines observable in the intensity vector space is greater than the number of dyes. This state of affairs is made visible by way of a sophisticated visualization method in the context of analysis. The “cytofluorogram” technique introduced by Demandolx and Davoust visualizes an ensemble of two-dimensional intensities {Īi} (in microscopy, the pixels of an image, voxels of a volume, or a chronologically successive series thereof; in cytofluorometry, the measurements of several samples) as a two-dimensional scatter plot that substantially represents a two-dimensional frequency distribution. On this basis, an estimate is obtained of the combined probability function of the intensities Ī, a method which is existing art in mathematical data analysis and whose quality depends only on the size of the ensemble. With suitable color coding and graphical depiction, an image of the intensity distribution is obtained in which the straight lines are localized by the user's eye as widened tracks. The widening exists as a result of all forms of noise, as well as chemical influences possibly acting in the background.